It’s a Bit Like Not Writing a Thank You Note

Only Tackier.

I’ve taken advantage of a zillion opportunities offered to me because of this blog, and guess what I’ve done? I’ve gone out and partied myself to death instead of taking a few moments and properly saying Thank You.

Thank you for giving me a voice.

Let’s start with the inauguration day party. It was great, why?

First off, it was at my house, which I always appreciate because it means I stand a pretty good chance of showing up on time.

Secondly, there was a caterer.

Thirdly, said caterer kicked ass! Seriously, Vanessa is unruffleable. Vanessa took her lovely liberal self into my kitchen, made a ginormous mess, made a gorgeous breakfast spread, bit her tongue when the GOP Mommies talked about Ann Coulter as being misunderstood (she’s not ladies, she’s horrid, but I still love y’all), and then she left my house a teeny bit cleaner than when she arrived.

The GOP Moms club was in attendance, and every fear I had about babies and my house did not come true. The toddlers were lovely, very… toddley, and cute. There were princess teas and boys with guns ablaze and a general sense of good natured fun.

There were bloggers. Lots of them, all girls/ladies/women and most importantly, every single person who crossed my threshold had extremely strong opinions, worked on one campaign or the other and they were lovely.

Yep lovely, a little more than 40 women from both sides of the political spectrum (not a typo – no one was in the middle) came together and watched Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States.

I am surrounded by magnificent women, I’m fueled by their energy. Quaker sponsors us, and gives to the local food bank. It’s a perfect morning and a great start to a new administration.

Less than 24 hours later I hop on an airplane to New York. Yes, I’m aware that we flew into Denver while a crashed plane was stuck in the mud , and I dutifully gobbled Xanax while we flew over the airliner that crashed in the Hudson river. Yeah, I’m a great traveler.

I arrived in the city, grabbed a cab and checked into The Time hotel. Can I just say, when Consumer Reports suggests a hotel, you know you’re getting good value. I never knew that The Time existed, but the rooms were clean (yes, I made them switch my room), the restaurant attached was very good and the decor was adorable. Adorable like an itty bitty doll is adorable… the rooms are teeny tiny (but then so was the bill).

I had a lovely dinner alone and then met a friend for drinks in the lounge. It was so good to catch up with old friends.

I grabbed a few hours’ sleep and then went to Yonkers first thing in the morning. Tomorrow I’ll do a comprehensive recap over at Green Options. Promise.

As we’re all on the shuttle up to Consumer Reports I hear this guy say, “let’s be sure to ask all the tough questions. Don’t let them get away with anything and it’ll be a great panel.”

Fuuuuccccckkkkkk

I’m already wondering how I got here, I’m the only person in a tee shirt and certainly I’m the only one who is wearing a $4 jacket from the thrift shop, and now reporter dude is planning is planning to ask real questions? He’s so reporter-y too, he’s got scuffed shoes, an actual leather satchel that’s probably my age and was likely given to him by a nobel laureate  and he doesn’t smile, he smirks, but not in the Dick Cheney way, in the Good Way. He’s going to find out that I got a BS degree instead of a BA just so I didn’t have to write any papers.

Then I see Scott Hensley. Ugh, an actual honest to goodness Wall Street Journal Editor, now I’m insanely nervous. I know journalists don’t like bloggers, but I’m not sure why.

By the end of the day, the question is answered for me.

Cliff Note version? The panel goes well, I think Avery smiled at something I said, Craig Newmark sat next to me and didn’t get my joke when I called him a communist (oh, like you’ve never told a bad joke). The panel after mine talked about doctors and ratings and I’m going to go on about that for ages, because it’s an important discussion.

Craig talked about his fascination with Glittens, MeMe sent him a pair, I went back to the hotel and crashed. Hard.

Then I had a wonderful dinner at Milos with Amy and Tracey. I laughed until my sides hurt, and I got a preview of what a good mother looks like when the kids are older. Thank you.

Friday morning I met Mel at Sarabeths and discovered that our worlds overlap more than I’d previously thought. If you think her blog is gracious, you should see her in person. I’ll be back in New York in two months, I’m thinking maybe tennis with these?

I got stoned with a pal and shopped for the kids at Dylans Candy Bar and hopped on the plane back home.

It was good.